William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 2,488,788 Shares of Copart, Inc. $CPRT

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Copart, Inc. by 36.6%, selling 2,488,788 shares during the second quarter, resulting in ownership of about 4.31 million shares valued at $211.73 million.
• Copart reported earnings of $0.41 per share for the most recent quarter, surpassing estimates by $0.04, while revenue was slightly under expectations at $1.13 billion.
• Analyst ratings for Copart show a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $54.50, following several upgrades and downgrades from various research firms.

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - Free Report) by 36.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,314,945 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,488,788 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.45% of Copart worth $211,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Copart in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Copart in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Copart in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Copart in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, GFG Capital LLC purchased a new position in Copart in the second quarter worth about $37,000. 85.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CPRT opened at $44.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71 and a beta of 1.03. Copart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.32 and a 1 year high of $64.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.89.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 4th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Copart had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Copart, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Copart

In other news, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 228,840 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total transaction of $10,879,053.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 24,283 shares of Copart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.79, for a total transaction of $1,087,635.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 31,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,403,360.28. This represents a 43.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPRT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Copart in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stephens dropped their price target on Copart from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Copart from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Copart from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC set a $62.00 price target on Copart and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Copart presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.50.

Copart Company Profile

Copart, Inc provides online auctions and vehicle remarketing services. It offers a range of services for processing and selling vehicles over the Internet through its Virtual Bidding Third Generation Internet auction-style sales technology on behalf of vehicle sellers, insurance companies, banks and finance companies, charities, and fleet operators and dealers, as well as individual owners.

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